The application claims the priority of European Application Patent No. 00480061.1, filed on 13 Jul. 2000, and entitled xe2x80x9cSystem and Method for Establishing Wireless Connection.xe2x80x9d
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to wireless data communication between different computer devices, and in particular to a method and apparatus for automatically establishing a wireless connection between a peripheral device and a computer device.
2. Description of the Related Art
These days it is more and more common to have one user working with several computer systems in his office. With the current technology, each computer system uses its own peripheral device to control cursor displacement on the computer display screen, such as a cabled or a wireless mouse device. The major drawback is that the user has to use a different peripheral device each time he works with a different computer system which is not convenient and could lead to fastidious manipulation.
Another problem arising from the use of different peripheral devices is the software support required for these peripheral devices. In fact, currently each manufacturer of peripheral devices such as International Business Machines Corp. provides the peripheral device, along with a diskette including a device driver program which is to be installed on the computer system by the user. Thus, there is a need for a unique peripheral device that may be used with any number of computer systems the user works with.
The present invention offers a method to automatically install a device driver program of the peripheral device without the need of such a diskette.
Finally, the present invention is directed towards a user friendly system and method which offers to the user an easy way to establish a wireless link between a peripheral device and a selected computer system among a plurality of computer systems.
In accordance with the invention, there is provided a peripheral device for establishing wireless connection with an intelligent device. The peripheral device comprises logic for controlling a cursor displacement on a display screen of the intelligent device, and further comprises:
(1) logic coupled to the controlling logic for generating a plurality of identification signals, where the identification signals comprise at least a device driver signal identifying the device driver associated to the peripheral device, and
(2) logic coupled to the controlling logic for analyzing at least one acknowledgment signal received from the intelligent device in response to the plurality of identification signals.
Preferably, a first actuation means, such as a push button, located on the cover of the peripheral device are actuated by a user during the generation of the plurality of identification signals. Similarly, second actuation means, such as a predetermined key of a keyboard connected to the intelligent device, are also actuated by the user during the generation of the plurality of the identification signals.
In the preferred implementation, the identification signals and the acknowledgment signals are HDLC frames having a specific control field for defining the kind of frame, i.e., if the frame is transmitted from the peripheral device or from the intelligent device, if the frame is a synchronization one or a desynchronization one or a frame which contains the device driver to be download to the intelligent device.
Also in accordance with the present invention, a system for establishing wireless connection between a peripheral device and an intelligent device in a multi-computers environment having a plurality of intelligent devices, is provided. The system is in part included within the peripheral device, which is preferably a mouse device, and also is included within the intelligent device, which is preferably a computer system. Specific routines of the system allow a user to work with any of the intelligent devices using only the one mouse device.